The first day.

The next morning when Seth woke up, the first thing she noticed was the feeling of unlimited freedom. She lazily opened her eyes, instantly turning attention towards her wrists.

Thankfully, her wrists weren’t tied to the bedframe anymore. She rubbed her eyes, attempting to get rid of the sleepiness and find the strength to get out of bed. Seth stretched her sore limbs and opened her eyes again.

Oddly, the bedroom didn’t look the same as the one she fell asleep in yesterday. Her eyes scanned the walls and ceiling - she was in the cabin, her bathrobe and bikini folded and placed on the nearest club chair, next to her bag.

She tried to notice if there was a note left for her to read, yet nothing seemed out of place. How did she get back here? Would it be possible that Luciano brought her home as soon as she fell asleep?

Of course, he did. After all, Luciano was an Alpha and men like him never allowed women to spend nights in their beds. Unless they claimed or marked the women. And he wouldn’t do that with Seth.

It was odd to feel the disappointment as it filled her. Seth still felt hatred towards Alphas, even if Luciano was one of them, but still, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad that they weren’t to be anything more. He was the man who stood at the top of the wolf food chain and she was his toy. Just another cat, who got caught in the vicious games the dogs loved to play.

And now, everything that had happened the night before seemed surreal; she couldn’t remember much, except for the fact how Luciano left her hanging.

“Fucking asshole!” Seth groaned in annoyance. Perhaps no other man did things like that to her, but no other man left without taking her.

His actions pissed her off, even thinking about the things Luciano made her feel aroused Seth - if only he would finish the damn job. Seth threw a quick glance at the clock and let out a sigh of relief. She had more than an hour to get ready for the first day of the job.

Seth ran to the bathroom, hopping into the shower. For some reason, she felt rather excited about the first day - no matter how she had to dress or who she tried to imitate as long as she survived everything. Seth hoped to avoid Luciano for as much as she could - sleeping with him here was a dangerous thing to do, one none of them could afford.

The warm water seemed to wash her worries away. But she still got out of the shower faster than ever. The main reason was to avoid being late because she decided to masturbate. Well, and the fact that she wasn’t allowed to. Seth didn’t need more creeps waiting at her door.

She wrapped herself in a warm towel and brushed her teeth, thinking about all possibilities of her new look. At first, she thought she might use makeup to make her face look more defined, perhaps add some stubble, but Seth quickly got rid of the idea. She decided that it would be better if she reminded a teen boy more than a somewhat mature male, that sounded more like an Omega.

Some of the Alphas could be gay. Those were the ones she had to worry about because they could blow her cover if she didn’t plan out everything correctly. Overall, it took Seth about an hour until she was satisfied with her new look. What made her even happier was that she wouldn’t be late - the maid never arrived, and if she did, she would after Seth’s day was supposed to start.

At least, the Elders had made sure that male clothing was delivered to her cabin, so at least that bit was off of her shoulders. Seth admired how masculine she looked in the reflection of the mirror; maybe one day, she will use her new talent to mess around with Anton. Her best friend would appreciate her look.

Seth mentally reminded herself that she should call her friend after her first day is over; the drama queen probably missed her already.

She left the cabin and headed to the main building kitchen, greeting everyone she met on her way. Seth couldn’t help herself but feel terrified - Alphas from all over the world surrounded her. She nearly ran to the building, knocking on the servant entrance like the house was on fire. A young woman opened the door, smiled, and invited her inside. “Seth, right?” The woman asked, eyeing the trembling figure.

“Yeah, sorry, I ran here. Don’t worry; I’ll sound more like a man as soon as my damn heart stops trying to escape my ribcage.” Seth struggled to talk; her head spun a little - only now she understood how many high-rank males she would have to face during the days.

“First of all - great job on makeup; I couldn’t do better myself. Sorry, I was supposed to go to your cabin and help, but I slept in, and I had to rush some things around here before heading to you. Don’t worry about the voice, you won’t talk much around the Alphas, and you have to pretend here only if someone from the Council is here. Alphas don’t come to the kitchen, and technically, you’re needed for about three hours in total. For now, you’re free to explore or hang around with us here.” The woman smiled, eager to get to know the newcomer.

Everyone working in the kitchen was friendly and very accepting. The only servants Seth had to worry about were the late-night servers. Those were women, who worked on weekends only - a little extra spice for Alphas to enjoy themselves.

Seth decided to hang around the kitchen staff, she couldn’t remember when was the last time she had so much fun in the company of other women. She gladly helped the cooks with preparations and even shared some of her favorite recipes. Seth was having such a great time, she didn’t notice how fast the time flew, and now, she had to serve the Alphas.

One by one, male servers entered the kitchen. They gladly explained what Seth would have to do, some even offered to let her go on the first day and let her watch from afar, but she gathered courage, faked the most masculine voice she could, and got to work.

Within an hour, they finished setting up the Swedish table for Alphas. Now, all of them had to keep an eye on the food. Their primary responsibility was to replace empty trays of food with full ones.

Other men warned Seth that she had to be fast, Alphas ate like animals; fast and a lot. The servers were right, she hadn’t seen so many men eating like a bunch of pigs ever before.

Running back and forth was more challenging than she thought, especially with plates full of food, but she managed to get through it without any complaints. Everyone from the staff congratulated Seth - she succeeded, despite many people thinking that she would fail.

Everyone among the servants knew that Seth was a woman, so she didn’t need to go out of her way and lie in front of them.

“So, now you can have five hours off. You can stay with us, but since we need to prepare dinner, we won’t have time to talk or laugh. Some help is about to arrive, so I would suggest you get some sleep before coming back. Seriously, dinner is way worse than lunch,” the kind servant woman warned Seth.

Both women hid away from everyone’s eyes to smoke. They managed to build a close bond quite fast, which made Seth a little more relaxed around the unknown place. “Yeah, perhaps I should. I didn’t get much sleep last night, you know, stress and all that.”

Seth didn’t want to lie. She knew that even friendships were primarily built on trust, and now, she was betraying the trust from the very beginning. Then again, telling this woman that she was in Alpha’s bed didn’t seem like the best thing to talk about.

Seth sighed, wondering about the possibility of losing the job if anyone found out about the night before. She would tell Luciano that it was a mistake and couldn’t happen again as soon as they met again. Seth wouldn’t look for him on purpose; she knew that Alpha would find her whenever he wanted.

“Listen.” The woman sighed, avoiding eye contact with Seth.

“You seem like a pretty nice girl, there is something, or to be more precise, someone I should warn you about. First of all, probably no one bothered to tell you that the weekends are the days we don’t work. Like at all, the Alphas and staff regain their strengths and have fun during those. Most of the participants leave the territory, so do some servants, and they head to the nearest town. There are many nightclubs and bars around where most of them spend the weekends and seek some fun. So, I assume that you might want to go as well, dressed as yourself, of course. Anyway, off the topic, but not quite, if you do go, there are some people you should avoid. If you meet Alpha Vincent, run as fast and as far as you can. The man has a bad reputation, but many of the people working here would kill you if they saw you doing as much as talking to that fucker. Especially females, but some men as well. They say that he’s a beast in bed, and whenever he visits the Elders, he sleeps at least with one woman from the servers or maids. Just try to be careful, and I’ll look after you as much as I can. This is the first year he’s participating in games since last happened when he was way too young. Everyone around here knows that he’s looking for his next weekend toy; make sure you don’t give out your gender. And I’m not telling this only because I want to be your friend, there’s another thing. He’s a sucker for unique-looking women, and you are one. I haven’t met anyone with hair as red as yours. When we met for the first time, you took my breath away, and I swear, I would go full-on lesbian if I wouldn’t be as straight as a chopstick.” The maid laughed.

She had a unique approach to explain things; Seth appreciated her attempt to protect her. It didn’t matter who the Vincent man was; she would avoid him anyway. Seth had to focus on her work more than running and sleeping around with Alphas. She made a mistake by sleeping with Luciano in the first place, she let him play with her - that was her first and last time to allow a man such a thing.

“Thank you, I appreciate the warning, and I will keep that in mind. I’m not here to have fun or find a partner. I need this job because of money, and I won’t lose it because of some stupid men. Don’t worry; I’ll look after myself and will try my best to do the same for you. Is there anything else I should know? I know it’s stupid, but I’ve heard that there always could be someone you would avoid at all costs, someone from the staff. Perhaps those are just stupid rumors, but nearly everyone I know has said the same thing. Is the staff super friendly, or are there some people I should avoid?” Seth took another cigarette out of the pack and lit it, sucking in the smoke. She offered it to her newfound friend, and the woman gladly took another.

Both had at least good twenty minutes off before her new friend would have to return to the kitchen. “Yeah, but she’s coming next week. Synthia is pretty much a bitch that looks and acts like a bitch. She has no friends around here, but since her granddad is a part of the Elder’s Council, she always lands the best jobs. Most of the time, you will see her sitting around and being lazy or running after Alphas. I’ve heard that her grandfather let her work here because the old man thinks that an Alpha might claim her one day. Trust me, rumor or not, that is all that girl keeps on talking about. She wouldn’t shut up, always babbling about marrying an Alpha and leaving our petty staff behind. I don’t like her, nobody does. Hopefully, she will find someone quickly, so we don’t have to put up with her shit anymore.”

Seth nodded her head and looked up at the sky. She silently wondered what the next week would bring, she wasn’t the most patient person, and someone as the said woman might push her over the edge. Whatever happens, she had to keep a low profile and survive until she got back home.

Soon, both women hugged and Seth headed back to the cabin. She made sure to lock herself in and went upstairs to the bedroom. Since Seth spent hours running around, she instantly took a relaxing shower. She had a little over three hours left to sleep, so without hesitation, Seth got in the bed, wrapped herself in the bedsheets, and set the alarm. She fell asleep nearly instantly and woke up five minutes before her alarm would go off.

Seth did a phenomenal job with makeup; once again, turning herself into a man. When she returned to the kitchen, the staff greeted her, letting her know the next task. She set the tables, brought out the dishes, and an insane amount of flowers to the tables. While Seth tried to manage to finish her work on time, everyone else set up the large tables with hot foods from where they would be served.

Unlike other years, the Alphas would approach the servers and decide what they wanted or not. The little change of system made Seth’s responsibilities shrink. As soon as she was done with setting the table, as insane as it sounds, it took her nearly four hours of running, she could return to the cabin.

Seth waved at the staff members and made sure the staff didn’t need her help any more before leaving. Once again, Seth locked herself in and instantly headed to the sower. It seemed funny that she didn’t have many different responsibilities, yet the bare minimum was as exhausting as nothing she had done before.

She planned to spend hours under the relaxing stream of water, but the sound of her phone going off ruined her plans. Seth got out of the shower, wrapped herself in a towel, and went to the bedroom. She picked the phone from the bed and noticed a new text message from an unknown number.

Seth couldn’t understand why her phone wouldn’t stop the notifications’ sounds if there was only one.

She tapped on the phone screen and opened the message.

**UNKNOWN:**
“48 hours until I fuck you senseless.”